800 billion dollars moved to offshore zones from Russiain 20 years

The research of Tax Justice Networks considers 139 states with average and lower-than-average level of incomes

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The amount of money that rich men of the world have on undeclared offshore accounts may reach 32 trillion dollars, former McKinsey&Co economist James Henry calculated for the Tax Justice Networks international non-governmental organization. On the wake of privatization, almost 800 billion dollars have been removed from Russia since 1990, according to RBK Daily research. Only China outstrips Russia in that respect with 1.2 trillion dollars, however moved out within the past 40 years.

The research of Tax Justice Networks considers 139 states with average and lower-than-average level of incomes, which account for 85 percent of the world’s population, 51 percent of world GDP on purchasing parity, 75 percent of world gold-and-currency reserves and 4.1 trillion of foreign debts.

From 1970 to 2010 most wealthy citizens of these countries accumulated 7.3 to 9.3 trillion dollars on undeclared offshore accounts. The money was moved out for short-term speculations, asset diversification, protection of money against political risks as well as to conceal profits from criminal activities from tax officials.

A total of 798 billion dollars have been moved out of Russia, according to James Henry. He said they had tried to look deeper into the past, but the data of international organizations made it possible only starting from 1990. According to James Henry, a sizable part of the means withdrawn from Russia was obtained as a result of privatization of state assets in the 1990s. However, according to him, part of the funds moved out of Russia to offshore accounts earlier, returns as investments that officially are referred to as “foreign investments”. One should understand that the funds have not vanished into thin air, they have just changed their ‘port of registration’ and it would be fair to have part of them back as taxes, he continued. In this connection he sees as interesting Vladimir Putin’s initiative announced before the election to impose tax on privatization. However, after Putin’s election as president, this initiative has remained as such.